Priyanka Gandhi joins Twitter, thousands follow in minutes

Lucknow, Feb 11: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been hailed as the big game changer for the Congress in the crucial electoral state of Uttar Pradesh joined Twitter debut on Monday.

Minutes before the roadshow, Congress party's official Twitter handle announced that the party's eastern UP in-charge has joined the social networking site.

Within 15 minutes, her follower count had crossed 5,000 and 25,000 in the first hour. Gandhi at the moment follows seven handles to start with, among them-the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Ashok Gehlot, Randeep Surjewala, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot.

Priyanka is scheduled to hold a roadshow in Lucknow today along with her brother and party president Rahul Gandhi.

In her first visit to the state after being given the charge of east Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi, along with brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia, will hold a roadshow in Lucknow ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Scindia, who has been given the responsibility of western UP, also shared a similar audio message.Eastern Uttar Pradesh currently has strongholds of both Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A 30-kilometre long roadshow has been planned in Lucknow as a grand welcome for the top three Congress leaders, through some of the most congested areas of the city.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will, in the course of the next three days, conduct daily meetings over specific constituencies of the 40-odd Lok Sabha seats which fall under her purview.

The Congress seems to have learnt its lessons from 2014, and has been scaling up its operations on social media platforms to challenge the BJP on a front which has been the saffron party's forte.

Rahul Gandhi has also been using Twitter for his attacks on the government and analysts credit his aggressive social media campaign for a turnaround of his image among the people.